Secrets : Weaponry Workbench
by Dr.Dalek
Summary: 'Ever wondered what kind of atrocities the Doctor's younger self, Theta, invented under Koschei's inciting influence' A short, partly fluffy, story on The Doctor and the Master's early years. Written for Otorisosa-kan's 'First-Sentence-Exchange-Prompt-Challenge'


**Author's Note:**  
Sorry for the delay. But I promise there will be another (really smutty) fluff before the week is over. (Yeah, I know it, should have come out next but _this_ deadline had sunken into oblivion ^^)  
See you!

* * *

"Does it look like these are anything other than wings?"

Theta glared at Koschei; infuriated by the smug smile on his lips and annoyed by his delayed response he picked up a sonic wrench and threw it at him.  
Koschei dodged the flying object by stepping to the right briefly before the impending impact.  
However, Theta's attempts towards giving him a concussion weren't enough to wipe this annoying little provocative smile off his face.

Theta tried to calm down his nerves by breathing in deeply before continuing work.  
Merely a moment had passed since he'd adjusted a sonic side cutter as Koschei gave his reply:

"Personally, I'd say yes, it does. The curved framework leaves a lot to be desired and I wouldn't expect anyone who isn't as imaginative as you to identify it as any sort of wings. Honestly, they look more like an assortment of crooked blunt blades. Not to speak of the odd straps on the sides..."

"Well, what do _you_ know?" Theta snapped while tightening the screws "It's my creation after all."  
He stared at Koschei with weary eyes: "Can't you make yourself useful?"  
"By what?" asked Koschei while popping his head to one side.  
"By dropping dead this instant" hissed Theta between gritted teeth while he readjusting the brace "...for a start."

Koschei burst out laughing and ducked as a sonic blowpipe went past.  
Theta turned to him, visibly annoyed, and wiped his dirt specked forehead.  
"Koschei, as much as I'm enjoying getting taunted by you I _need_ to finish this invention tonight. As long as Voleyard is head engineer, which he will probably be for a longer time than I'm comfortable with since he survived an encounter with my backfiring Heat-wave Flywheel... well, he's going to make my life a misery."

Theta started working again, aware of Koschei's eager gaze.

"And it wasn't supposed to set his robe on fire..." Theta uttered while adding some springs to a delicate mechanism "and hitting me over the head with it was not only senseless but cruel."

Koschei sniggered again behind Theta.  
A teapot smashed where his head had been.

"Koschei, if I hear you smirking one more time I'm going to shove my latest invention down your throat and I promise for you I'll add some extra razors to it."  
Koschei leaned forward, his cheek brushing against Theta's neck.  
"You can't hear anybody's smirk" said Koschei.  
"Your smirk I can hear!" spat Theta before turning to face Koschei again, his sallow eyes glistening with fury "And now bugger off!"

Koschei just stood there and smiled.  
Moments passed before Theta got fed up with staring as his immobile colleague, but finally he gave a quiet grunt to express his dissatisfaction and started working on his invention again.

Koschei walked around the metal construct several times, inspecting it intensely.  
The only sound that filled the air around Theta's workbench was the scraping of graphite against steel.

Koschei lowered his head, his eyes fixed on a small mechanism.  
"Interesting" he uttered eventually "What do you call it again?"

"Just shut up, will you?" snapped Theta, nearly cutting him off. "I'm trying to concentrate..."

Koschei watched him picking up a tool that looked like a whorl with cogwheels on it.  
Koschei didn't do much apart from following him at every turn and leaning over him while he revised and made adjustments on his creation.  
Of course there was a dismissive "tsk-tsk" from time to time or a repeated "mh", "it's upside down" or, finally, an unnerving "Really? Really like this?"

This caused Theta not only to snap but turning around and pressing a gimlet, furnished with razors, against his throat.  
"One more 'mh', Koschei, and I'm going to introduce you to my newest creation."  
Again Koschei's smile wasn't to be wiped from his face.  
"And what do you call _this_?" he asked, not at least a bit unsettled.

With a grunt Theta pushed him back, anger draining away at the sight of his unnervable friend.  
"It's a Sonic Segmentationer, made of pure corundum."  
Theta's lips morphing into a vicious grin:  
"Cut's through everything."

"How nice..." uttered Koschei while Theta approached him, one hand still clutching at it "would you be so kind as to give it to me for a minute?"

Theta stopped and raised it to shoulder level, and, catching a spark of fear in Koschei's eye, burst out laughing and placed it safely in his hands.  
This short moment of Koschei's anxiety had been most enjoyable, even thought Koschei would keep on denying what Theta had seen.

Koschei eyed the small misshapen instrument up closely before automatically starting to tighten a few pins and bending blades back into shape.  
Theta sighed and placed a firm hand on top of Koschei's.

"Don't bother" he muttered gravely "it's going to be melted down again. Though constructed to split open a Dalek in less than four seconds, Voleyard doesn't like it as he says that short-range weapons are useless on Dalek because they don't let you get into a short range of them."  
Theta sat down sulkily as he stared at his new, wing-like invention with wide eyes in complete silence.

Koschei eyed him up thoughtfully while he sat down next to him, fondly petting him on the shoulder.

"What do you think of it?"  
Theta's sudden question cut through the heavy silence like a freshly sharpened blade; and yet Koschei hadn't even flinched.

Koschei smiled mildly while placing an arm around Theta.  
"I think you're a genius."

Though deep-down ashamed of it Theta actually felt flattered by his friend's words.  
And involuntarily he blushed.

"No, I'm serious" Koschei went on as if reading his thoughts "You're brilliant. Voleyard is an idiot if doesn't values good craftsmanship when he sees it. And you can't fight a long-distance war without clashing somewhere; and that's somewhere where you _need_ short-range weapons. If I've ever seen anything useful that the Time War has brought forth then it's this!"

Koschei held it at arm's length, staring at it in both admiration and fascination.  
"Alright, stop it" Theta chuckled "you're making fun of me."  
Koschei's penetrating stare fell upon him. He smiled as his left eye twitched.

Theta couldn't put his lacerated fingers at what exactly had scared him this moment. It must have been something in Koschei's eyes.  
A glimmer.  
A spark of prediction.  
Or just a reminder that, after all, his friend _was_ mad...

But Theta shook it off and chuckled again, though his bright smile had faded.  
He sat down beside Koschei again.

"So you really think it could be useful?" asked Theta levelly.  
Koschei stared at him, still under the instrument's spell.  
"I _know_ that this is what they've been looking for" he said with a strange calmness and somehow Theta wondered why he'd expected him to say 'I' instead of 'they'.  
Nevertheless he wanted to change subjects as quickly as possible and therefore brushed it aside with the words "Just keep it then."

"I'll give it back, I promise" replied Koschei before the instrument disappeared among his robes.  
He cast another glance at the giant invention that stood before him.  
"And what is this?" he asked.  
Theta leaned against his creation, cocking an eyebrow at him.  
"You'll laugh" he said while eyeing up Koschei in order to spot any signs of oncoming amusement.  
"I promise I won't" replied Koschei.  
"You will laugh" repeated Theta "You won't like the name I've picked for it."

Koschei looked him deeply in the eye, locking their gazes.  
"I promise" he repeated earnestly with what Theta thought of as an enchanting smile.

"Fine," mumbled Theta. He folded his arms while staring at his feet.  
"Skaled Death" Theta explained "And that's 'scaled' with 'k'."  
Koschei stared at him untouched. "And what's so funny about that?" he asked.  
"It's not funny" Theta sighed "It's just... I thought you'll think it's stupid..."  
"Because it's an anagram for 'Dalek's Death'?" Koschei complemented before catching Theta's gaze and adding "It's not. It's truthful, that's all."

Koschei expected it, lifting some of the razor-sharp parts with caution.  
"Since Voleyard criticised my last work for being only useful in close combat I thought of something that might as well slay everything while you're getting there. The parts that look like scales are made of T'jeihas Titan what others might call 'Translucent Titanium', so it's nearly indestructible while being as light as a feather" Theta explained nervously while Koschei scrutinized it,  
"It's supposed to be worn as a shield as rear cover, though the scales are not securely fixed to the frame, which makes it possible that with sudden movements..."

There was a sound of metal parts scraping and eventually wedging against each other.  
Theta stared at Koschei who had put it to the test by shaking a separate part of the membrane.  
What he now held in hands was a razor studded nightmare.

"I'm still working on the elastic mechanism for letting it spring back" Theta went on while Koschei examined what looked now like a very dangerous hedgehog.  
"And the upper is definitely far from perfect; I had hoped I'd find something more practical than leather but it has to be tear-proof."

"And leather certainly does look good, doesn't it?" Koschei chuckled.  
"Shut up" hissed Theta, hardly biting back a smile.

"And why haven't you shown it to Voleyard?" Koschei went on.  
Theta sighed.  
"Some of the parts aren't properly welded yet and I still need some time for framing the single segments." He stared at his invention thoughtfully "May take a few hours."

Koschei watched him intently as he picked up work again.  
Eventually he bent forward and rested his head on Theta's shoulder.  
Theta closed his eyes while Koschei nuzzled his neck. Rubbing his cheeks against Theta's he whispered into his ear.  
"Do you need some help?"

Theta smiled brightly and turned to face Koschei with sparkling eyes; he flung his arms around him.

"I thought you'd never ask!"

And strangely enough Theta wasn't even cast down as Voleyard dismissed his latter work as falderal. And maybe, but that's just maybe, because Voleyard was staring at him with different eyes.  
And a different face. And a different body.

The definite reason why the Head Engineer of the Manufactured Weapon's Department had regenerated was never found as the detailed circumstances of the night had remained a secret among the members of the staff.  
But a rumour was spread that some senior students had found his cut off head (which they had kept as a trophy of course) which had been removed, strangely enough, in one swift movement.

As for the weapon, well... it must have been a thin blade, as the more intrigued students had ascertained, quite short, light and definitely all-pervasive.

Or, in other words, it cuts through everything.


End file.
